Six local players reach Round of 16 at Boys Junior State

The REPORTER

There were quite a few Hamilton County battles at the Indiana Boys State Junior Championship Wednesday at Purdue University’s Ackerman-Allen Course.

Five matches in the tournament’s Round of 32 saw local players go head-to-head for a place in Thursday’s Round of 16. The five winners of those matches were joined by a victorious Dane Starnes of Fishers, giving the county six players in the Round of 16, which begins at 8 a.m. this morning.

In an all-Westfield battle, Ryan Cesare beat Keaton Knott 3&1. Fishers’ Mattingly Upchurch beat Westfield’s Jude Kaufman 4&3, while Noblesville’s Tyler Marucci got past Fishers’ Zach Kinzer 1 Up.

Carmel’s Patrick Wolf won the toughest match of all, edging past Fishers’ Tommy Klinker in 25 holes. Indianapolis’ Eli Wessel, a Guerin Catholic graduate, beat Fishers’ Brody Colburn 6&5.

Starnes was the only county winner who didn’t have to face a fellow local player. He beat Greenwood’s Gabe Baxter 3&1.

Westfield’s Hudson Kutchma dropped a second-round match to Elkhart’s Benjamin Divido 5&4, while Carmel’s Max Huffman fell 2&1 to Middlebury’s Luke Haarer.

First-round matches

Thirteen local players reached the Round of 32 by winning first-round matches on Wednesday morning. Knott beat Valparaiso’s Reid Carlson 1 Up, while Cesare defeated Bloomington’s Karl Bailey 5 Up.

Upchurch got past Pendleton’s Hayden Fox 1 Up, with Kaufman beating St. John’s Cole Sullivan 4&2.

Westfield’s Hudson Kutchma beat Pendleton’s Zachary Zoeller 2&1. Marucci defeated Ladoga’s Austin Foley 5&3. Kinzer was a 3&2 winner over Fort Wayne’s Pierce Talarico.

Klinker took care of Zionsville’s Oliver Schlegel 6&4. Wolf beat Fort Wayne’s Caden Matthias in 19 holes, while Wessel was a 6&5 winner over Indianapolis’ Luke Leaman.

Colburn beat Logansport’s Graham Taylor 5&4, while Starnes beat Bloomington’s Ryan Decker 4&3. Huffman won 3&1 over Zionsville’s Brycen Tisch.

In other first-round matches, Noblesville’s Myles Ray fell to Greenwood’s Nathan Springer 4&3, while Noblesville’s Luke Decker dropped a 2&1 match to Spencerville’s Christian Hicks. Another Noblesville golfer, Vaughn Twilla, was edged out 1 Up by Fort Wayne’s Camden Meyers.

Fishers’ Gavin Davis dropped a 3&2 match to Fort Wayne’s Caden Baker, while Carmel’s Luke Moore fell to Fort Wayne’s Cohen Stringer 5&4.

Today’s Round of 16

Round of 16 matches begin at 8 a.m. today, with the winners playing the quarterfinals immediately afterwards.

Cesare plays Hicks, Upchurch faces off against Gas City’s Landon Tropf, while Marucci takes on Divido. Wolf plays Wessel in the only all-local match and Starnes will play Haarer.